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Tech Mahindra launches Makers Lab to boost innovation

PUNE: Tech Mahindra has officially launched its Makers Lab program in Pune, an internal lab to boost innovation within the company. Makers Lab is currently active in four locations across India – at Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, with Pune housing the largest facility with 40 people. The lab was set up in 2014, and has since come up with a few innovative solutions that are being used either internally at Tech Mahindra or by clients.

Atul Kunwar, Chief Technology Officer, Tech Mahindra said that there are similar labs being set up in the US and UK which would be used for co-innovating with customers. The team working at Makers Lab has an average age of 22-24, and some people are later rotated into projects at the company to spread this mindset through the organisation.

Some of the platforms that have come out through the Lab include Entellio, a chatbot based HR platform which is being used by Tech Mahindra internally and X-retail, which uses augmented reality and sensors for retail clients. While the company didn’t put a specific figure to the investments made towards Makers Lab, it said that it was a significant amount. Nikhil Malhotra, head-Makers Lab, said that they were changing the fabric of how Tech Mahindra solves customers’ problems with this initiative. “We are getting called for certain deals and pitches because of the kind of work we are doing here,” he said. The company was also hosting the third edition of its Mission Innovation, where it launched a new logo for Makers Lab. The digital logo has a set of wheel cogs, which start moving at the logo at the actual lab every time there is a social media mention. The company showcased some innovative products using Microsoft’s HoloLens and virtual/augmented reality.